Life Changes = Cooking Changes

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton

For those of you who don't know me personally I've had a huge job change recently.  So I apologize that I have not posted on here in a while. Almost a month ago I took a job teaching high school science.  So far it has been a wonderful experience in which I've been able to use my college degree.  However, for those of you who are not teachers I had no clue how much work a teacher puts in to their job.  I now appreciate every teacher I had and the 12 - 15 hours a day they would sometimes put in to teach me.  With this job change I've also lost a lot of my free time in the evenings.  The times I would use to cook before are now spent grading papers and making lesson plans.  So along with this job change I've also had a change in my cooking.  I have gone from spending two hours cooking each night to learning to throw together quick meals.  So my posts will also reflect this from here on out. Some of you are cheering because you also need quick easy meals and others of you may be a bit disappointed because you love the challenge that an involved meal brings with it.  I agree with both of these sides, I love the challenge of an involved meal but I definitely need the convenience.  So while most of my weekday posts will be quick convenient meals I am still making meals that involve a little bit more of a challenge on the weekend.  I hope you'll follow along with me in this adventure of cooking and teaching.  I can't wait!  Here's my first super simple crockpot recipe below.

Salsa Grilled Chicken

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.

Russel Baker

Cute Beach Tote

This recipe is the perfect summer recipe and I have to admit it was one of those that I just completely stumbled upon.   I was cleaning out my freezer the other night (I make and freeze a lot of stuff) and came across a huge pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I needed to cook.  I looked in the pantry and new I wanted to make something that had a bit of lime in it so I threw this concoction together and it turned out wonderfully!  I made it along with a big crock pot full of black beans and rice (recipe coming tomorrow) and it made an amazing dinner!  The color of the chicken is gorgeous and the flavor just perfect for a summer cookout!  Most of the ingredients you probably have in your pantry except maybe the Sazon.  However, if you haven't ever used Sazon I highly encourage it.  A few years back when I was in college I became best friends with Erika.  Erika is Cuban and began to teach me how to make some amazing food.  In one of her grandmothers Picadillo recipes it called for Sazon.  That was my first experience with this fabulous Spanish spice.   Not only does it deliver great flavor but it turns everything a beautiful orange color.  It is great in everything from rice and beans to chicken or beef.  If you're anything like me you're probably intimidated by new spices (one reason I still haven't posted an Indian recipe on here... curry completely intimidates me).  However, with this spice I encourage you to throw all caution to the wind and try it.  It's mild enough that it won't ruin your meal but the color is so beautiful it will definitely pump up the appeal factor. 

Goat Cheese + Chicken = A Recipe I Can't Wait To Try

I LOVE goat cheese and I LOVE chicken and I LOVE Barefoot Contessa and this is her recipe, so what's not to love about this recipe?!?!  When I found it on the Food Network website I knew I had to share it with you.  I can't wait to try it out and let you know how it is!!!  I'm thinking it would go great with a baguette, a salad, and maybe even some grilled asparagus.  If you try it before me let me know how it is...

Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese
recipe found at www.foodnetwork.com
By Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)
Serves 6

Ingredients
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
12 ounce sherbed goat cheese, with garlic and herbs
Fresh basil leaves
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet.
Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached.
Cut 12 thick slices of the herbed goat cheese and place 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast.
Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Roast Italian Chicken

The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'.

Cute quote! Made me smile when I read it.   And REALLY cute kitchen!  Last week when I was at Publix they had a great deal on whole chickens.  So I bought 2 of them and put them in the freezer knowing I could make them in the future.  I knew however, that I wanted to come up with a new recipe because as much as I love my old one for roast chicken (found here) I thought the husband was getting a little bored of it and I promised myself I would never settle into a repertoire of 5 recipes I rotate through... way too boring for me!  So that thought combined with my mom's surplus of basil that she passed on to me I decided to come up with some sort of roast Italian chicken.  I do have to admit I was a little intimidated before I started this recipe as I was just kind of pulling off my taste buds completely and with a roast chicken you can't taste as you cook.  Needless to say I was terrified it was going to be a complete flop.  On the contrary, it turned out amazing!!!  I actually think I like it as much as I do my favorite Greek version (mentioned above).  Here's the recipe... enjoy!

Chicken Teriyaki and Southern Style Green Beans

"Southerners can't stand to eat alone. If we're going to cook a mess of greens we want to eat them with a mess of people." 

Julia Reed

I love the quote above.  While some people may not think there is a distinctive difference in Southern cooking and other cooking those who have grown up here will disagree.  Having a mother from South Carolina, a father from Virginia, and a grandmother from Mississippi I grew up learning that not only are there typical foods distinctive to the south (greens, hoppin' johns, fried chicken, etc...) it is almost more of a cultural thing than it is a type of food.  I was raised learning that you invite friends over as often as possible, you give your extra cookies or baked goods to neighbors, and you always make a pound cake for a friend who has lost a loved one.  So when I came across this quote I thought it fit perfectly.  For this post I am sharing with you the simple love of cooking in the South, particularly in using a cast iron skillet and making fabulous green beans.  I hope you enjoy the simplicity as much as I do.

10 Recipes Every Newlywed Needs to Know

Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths.  No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. 

Mark Twain

I love this turquoise/yellow wedding

I'm celebrating my first anniversary today!  It is so crazy to think how fast a year flew by.  Before getting married I had this thought (actually we should probably call it an illusion) that I would cook a new dish for dinner every night, keep an immaculate house, decorate, spend time with the husband and still have time for things like running, working, friends, etc...  Sadly in about month 6 of our marriage I realized this was definitely not going to happen.  At that point I had a basket of laundry to do, the floor needed to be vacuumed, I didn't feel like cooking and couldn't remember the last time I had ran.  It was then that I realized married life wasn't the clean houses I saw when I went over to visit someone (because they shoved everything in the closet before hand), it wasn't the elaborate dinners (because really they had picked it up at the local restaurant before hand), it wasn't a perfectly designed house (because they had hired an interior decorator for that) or the relaxed feeling I felt when around the couple.  Actually it may have been the relaxed feeling but that was mainly because the wife (or husband) had taken the advice in the parenthesis above so really they were just chilling.

Turquoise/Orange Inspiration

Joking aside though I did come to realize that marriage is more than living up to these standards I had set in my head.  Marriage was loving someone, serving together, standing side by side, and (for those who are a Christian like me) bringing God glory in all you do.  I quickly learned that in reality the laundry could wait until tomorrow, the house would always need something else dusted, decorating is a lifetime project, and some nights it's ok to order in.  I do have to say though in regards to cooking there were a few amazing dishes that really helped me get through this first year of marriage.  If you know me you know I love experimenting with different dishes but every now and then even I have to have those standby recipes to fall back on when everything else fails.  So for those of you who are newlyweds, write these down! For the rest of you who already have your recipe "repertoire" why not consider adding some of these.  I promise they are delicious, filling and always seem to please both the husband, guests, and myself.

What's for dinner...

"A salad is a waste of a full"

Love this handmade wreath!

Yes the above quote is my husband's. This has been his quote he has lived by for as long as I've known him. His mentality is "if I'm going to get full I'd rather get full off of meat and potatoes than off of salad". However, in an effort for both of us to eat healthier he did recently agree to eat salad if I made it and it didn't "taste gross". So I'm taking full advantage of that tonight and making a modified version of a Weight Watcher's Salad mixed with a Cooking Light chicken recipe for the grilled chicken on top. The Weight Watchers salad sounded delicious but my husband and I both do not care for mayonnaise. Actually, that's probably an understatement, the husband hates mayonnaise. To the point where one of the guys in his bible study he teaches once put mayonnaise underneath the door handle to his car so he grabbed it when he opened the door, lets just say he was pretty mad. However, I recently made a recipe that substituted sour cream for mayonnaise so that is how I made this salad tonight. As for the grilled chicken on top, the other night I made the original full recipe for Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa by cooking light and the chicken turned out delicious and was so simple.  I wanted to add some protein to the salad so I figured combining them was the perfect way to complete the meal.  It was delicious and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

A Recipe I can't wait to try - Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Cilantro is one of those foods that people either love or hate. 

How true is this statement?!?!  It seems as if most everyone either hates Cilantro or loves it, there is no in between.  For me, I absolutely love it.  I could eat it in most anything and can toss lettuce with cilantro and a little lime juice and consider it the best salad I ever had.  So for those of you who hate it you may not want to continue reading as this recipe boasts Cilantro as a main ingredient.  For those of you like me who love Cilantro grab a napkin as you may need to wipe the drool off your face.  I stumbled across this recipe on a tweet from the cooking light magazine.  It is a healthy recipe that could even be modified for even lower carbs by serving it on lettuce and make the avocado cream into a dressing.   It sounds like a light, fresh meal, perfect for summer.  By the way I'm on my way to New York and I'll be going on a food tour while I'm there - jealous yet?  I can't wait and plan on posting the best dishes and where they're from so be on the lookout fun posts to come.  Have a wonderful week!

A recipe I can't wait to try - Light Chicken Potpie

"Food is the most primitive form of comfort" - Sheila Graham

cute Etsy travel mug!

I love chicken potpie.  There is just something so comforting about such a warm filling dish.  However, after I eat a chicken potpie I usually do not feel so comforted anymore.  The calorie content seems to flash before my eyes right before the guilt settles in.  So when this light chicken pot pie recipe came up in my twitter feed I knew I couldn't wait to try it.  I haven't gotten a chance to attempt it yet but I knew I had to share this.  While the nutritional information may not make it the newest recipe recommendation on Biggest Looser it definitely allows me to feel better about a "once in a while" indulgence of something I love.  Many thanks to Food Network for coming up with this recipe! I hope you enjoy cooking up a great dish of this for an easy evening at home filled with great comfort food.

Tuesday's Tip - Chicken Stock

"I love chicken. I would eat chicken fingers on Thanksgiving if it were socially acceptable. "

What a cute quote and I have to admit that I too love chicken.  Especially today, as I'm home sick and nothing sounds better than chicken noodle soup.  I don't have the energy to make a pot of it but I thought discussing chicken stock would be a great tip for today.  One of the best money saving tips I have learned in cooking so far is that of making your own stocks.  It is much cheaper to buy the whole chicken, use what you need for your meal and save the bones for a stock to be made at a later date.  Not only is it so much cheaper it is also a lot healthier, you can moniter the salt and fat amounts and adjust according to your diet.  Since learning this I don't throw anything away. 

Tuesday's Tip... Cooking with Love

“There is no spectacle on earth more appealing than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves.”

cute little cake stand from etsy

Today is the husband's birthday and in honor of that I am going to discuss one of the most important cooking tips I've ever learned.  I think I may have learned it from my grandmothers or maybe even my mom, but as cliche as it may sound love is one of the most important ingredients you can add to your spice rack.  There's something about cooking in a non-selfish way, whether it be for someone down the street or your own family.  When cooking is selfish we have a tendency to get an attitude of "I made it, you'll eat it" but when the cooking is all about the other person even in the imperfections we can still feel pleased with what we make.  Not only that but it is such an easy way to please your husband, children, neighbor up the road or friend in need.  So this week's tip is to try your hand at catering a whole week worth of menus around other people, attempt to make their favorites and show them how much they mean to you.  

For my husband's birthday he had one request for me to make Airline Chicken.  I know it sounds like something you would get aboard a plane but I promise it isn't. 

Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Rice

"We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons."

I love the quote above.  It's so true and I have to say lemons are one of my favorite additions to a dish.  They just make everything taste so much fresher that I can't help adding it to everything possible.  Today for lunch I wanted to throw together something fast and healthy and I came up with this and just had to share.  Hope it helps you love lemons as much as me!

Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Rice

Roast Chicken

I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.
Henry IV

La Cafatiere French Press

Well this recipe may not take care of world poverty as the mentioned quote above but it is an awesome cheap recipe that I make alot! When I first got married I wanted to find an inexpensive recipe that was decently healthy that could be made over and over with the same results.  I have to admit I'm not a huge meat person but I love this recipe.  It's easy and affordable.  It's a great recipe to put together and throw in the oven after work.  It tastes great with brown or wild rice and the broth the chicken gives off while cooking makes a really great pan gravy base.  The leftovers are just as good on top of a spinach salad or chopped up for chicken and rice!  Enjoy!

Soup Season

"There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can."
Laurie Colwin

Le Creuset Cookware

Well it doesn't get very cold in Florida so the few days when it actually get below 70 degrees I'm all about celebrating the small moment of fall before it gets back up to beach weather.  This weekend I was craving making some soups.  They are just so warm and comforting and such a great way to watch the waistline!  They are filling, full of fiber, cheap to make and great on-the-go.  This weekend Shale asked me to make lentil soup.  After I got over the initial shock that he requested something healthy, I started looking online and stumbled across a great find!  Apparently the food network is featuring soup recipes and has an awesome list you can print out for 50 simple soup recipes (some of them use the same base and only tweak one or two ingredients)  Visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-easy-soups-1--10/index.html to print out the list.  When looking I found a great recipe for black bean soup that I tweaked to make my own version without having to buy more ingredients.  It turned out awesome!!!  Even the meat-and-potatoes husband loved it!!!!  So I just had to share!!!